InfoStor editor Dave Simpson has a post on his storage blog about how Storage Networking World (SNW) can get back some of its lost luster. As he notes, trade shows in general are feeling the pinch in the current recession and SNW-which just posted the agenda for its upcoming fall conference–is no exception. For the post, he spoke with Mike Alvarado, a consultant in the storage industry and former Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) board member.
Alvarado has some pretty radical new ideas. Mainly, he recommends that SNW shift its focus away from end users towards channel partners, or so-called VARs as a way of bringing some energy back to the show.
Says Alvarado: “Resellers and integrators are a vital network storage industry segment. I have seen many great conversations take place between vendors and these partners at different SNWs; those exchanges represent opportunity to drive great value for our industry. I believe if SNW focused on optimizing the interaction between vendors and resellers/integrators, it would pay large dividends. Calling the show something else or founding a new show with different sponsorship would be needed, but whatever it takes the sooner this happens the better.”
Wow. A new name, even? This would be a major change of direction for the show. One question I had in reading this, is would this benefit innovation in the industry? As we noted in a post following last Spring’s show, one of the more disappointing aspects of it was the dearth of startups.
As our lead blogger Carter George wrote last April: “(Startups were) … always an exciting part of SNW for me: a peek into the future and a chance to see where the big guys might be headed next. As recently as last year I recall seeing maybe 15 or 20 small vendors taking up floorspace, all of them hoping to not only find end user leads, but also to catch the eye of potential big partners.”
Overall, it is good to see that people are talking about ways to keep the show going–and relevant. I can’t help thinking however that it might be worthwhile to wait out the recession and see if the energy just naturally returns to the show before making it turn in a whole new direction.
